Mistral Landing
by Lilac.Noctua
Summary: Set during the finale of Vol. 4. Ren and Nora explore Mistral and the beginning of a new chapter of their relationship. Meanwhile Jaune struggles to come to terms with his grief and the ways his team is changing. Really, it's mostly just Renora fluff.


A team of medics ran forward to meet them as they landed at the airdocks in Mistral, hurriedly bundling Qrow into a waiting ambulance. Ruby followed after them anxiously, recounting how he had gotten injured and his symptoms since then. Jaune was doing his best to look nonchalant while struggling to lower himself over the edge of the air ship's deck.

"So uhh, guys," he addressed some nearby crew members, his legs flailing in the air for a second, searching for the pavement. "What's a good place to stay around here. You know, not to pricey, maybe near the hospital?"

The crew gave directions and Jaune turned and gestured to Nora and Ren, exhaustion showing in the droop of his shoulders under his armor. The pair had been frozen in place at the edge of the deck, hands clasped together between them, Nora's head resting on Ren's shoulder. As one, they released each other and dropped to the ground, hurrying to catch up with Jaune. Without looking at her, Ren reached over and took Nora's hand again. She moved a little closer so her shoulder rubbed his arm as they walked in step. The directions the airship crew had given them led along broad winding streets and up sweeping staircases, to a guest house for huntsmen and huntresses tucked in between a market square and a neat row of townhouses.

Inside was quiet and austere, early morning sun lancing through narrow windows in the entryway. The proprietor was an aged huntsman with a snow white ponytail and lopsided glasses.

"Team name, leader's name and affiliation," he instructed as he turned the dusty guest book towards Jaune.

Jaune wrote: _RNJR - Jaune Arc/Ruby Rose - Beacon Academy_

"It's JNRR," Nora insisted.

"Still not a colour," Ren replied almost automatically.

"Wait, isn't Ruby our leader? I thought this was her mission?" Nora asked.

Jaune just shrugged. "Better her than me, right?"

Ren brought a hand up to rest on Jaune's shoulder while Nora babbled that she hadn't meant it like that, of course not.

To the proprietor Jaune explained, "Sorry, we were originally members of teams JNPR and RWBY at Beacon, but we uhh, well we lost a lot during. . .what happened there." He cleared his throat and was silent for a second before continuing. "We'll need two rooms. Our other team mate will be joining us later, along with her uncle. Qrow."

"Beacon kids, huh? Far from home and traveling with Qrow." He winced sympathetically. "You're too young to be on the job already, I'd say, but I guess you did get a trial by fire back there. Stay as long as you like, don't worry about the bill. Just tell that bastard to behave himself this time."

"Yes sir," Jaune nodded vigorously. "Thank you sir."

The proprietor passed two brass keys across the counter and they trudged up the stairs. The two rooms adjoined and were sparse but clean, with scuffed wooden floors, and beds made up so tightly that the Atlas military would have been impressed. The trio dropped their packs to the floor and stared blankly around the room for a few minutes.

"We've been up all night!" Nora announced suddenly. "I don't know about you, but I need COFFEE!" She jumped a little as she shouted the last word.

"Normally, Nora," Jaune started, holding up a hand. "I would say that's the worst idea ever. But we have been up all night. I feel like I've been stomped on by one of those giant robot things, you haven't started bouncing on the beds yet, which is frankly worrying, and Ren. . .well. . . I mean, he's as calm and stoic as ever but, uhh yeah he looks kinda tired. So sure, yeah, let's all go get a coffee. I feel like we shouldn't be sleeping while we wait to hear from Ruby anyway."

"YEAH! That's the spirit!," Nora exclaimed. She grabbed both boys by the elbows and marched them out of the room.

In the market next to the guest house, they found a small cafe with wrought iron tables on a sun drenched patio surrounded by flower boxes. Jaune indulged in a vanilla latte with extra whipped cream. Nora bounced up to the counter and asked for an extra large hot chocolate with nine shots of espresso, extra marshmallows, extra whipped cream, extra sprinkles, and both chocolate and caramel sauce, with a little cup of syrup on the side, causing the barista to look a little nauseous. Ren pointed to a blend of jasmine green tea. As an afterthought, Jaune went back to the counter to ask for six breakfast sandwiches and a dozen donuts. They had eaten a little on the ride to Mistral on the crew's insistence, but not really enough to recover from their fight. They had been too worried about Qrow.

They sat around a table, Nora slurping on her revolting concoction, while Jaune talked about nothing in particular, Ren nodding along. Under the table, Nora had hooked her ankle around Ren's.

It was around the time that Nora had eaten the last of the donuts that Jaune's scroll finally buzzed, Ruby's face appearing on the screen. He snatched it up, almost fumbling it off the table in his haste.

"Ruby! How's it going? What do the doctor's say?"

Ren and Nora could hear the relief in Ruby's muffled voice through the speaker. Jaune's face eased and his lips turned up into a smile.

"Hey, that's great Ruby!" He said. "When?"

He looked across the table, where Ren had scooted his seat closer to Nora's so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. She was leaning into his side, happily attempting to lick the last of the syrup out of the bottom of the cup. Ren was gazing down at her with an expression Jaune had never seen on him before. Jaune knew he was no expert on matters of the heart, but he had always noticed that Ren looked at Nora differently than he looked at everyone else. Normally, he looked at her in a way which was tender, patient (if a little amused or exasperated), and spoke of trust and understanding. Now, the look he was wearing as he looked at her was distinctly dopey; eyes shining, smiling absently, all soft around the edges. He looked the way that people in cartoons did when hit on the head with a large hammer.

Jaune watched his two remaining team mates, on the opposite side of the table from him, suddenly so far away, lost in something that made him think of red hair, strong arms, and a musical laugh. Ruby's voice, which had been explaining something about antivenom,sterilized bandages, and surveillance periods became an indistinct noise in his ear, and the coffee turned in his stomach.

"Yeah listen, Ruby," he said, standing up from the table abruptly. "I'll come and meet you. I mean, you'll probably need help getting him home, and you don't even know where the hotel is. Yeah. I'm on my way."

He waved to his teammates over his shoulder and hurried through the market, not feeling a pair of pink eyes sharpen into focus and settle on his hunched shoulders.

"He'll call us if he needs us," Nora said, glancing up at Ren.

Ren looked back down at her, expression very serious. "You have whipped cream in your eyebrows, Nora." He said solemnly.

Nora's cheeks reddened and she shoved at him playfully as she scrubbed her face with a napkin.

"Come on, Ren!" She bounced out of her seat and skipped around the table. "We've got all of Mistral to explore!"

"You don't want to sleep?" He frowned at her slightly. "We've been up all night."

Nora's face colored and she looked away, suddenly very interested in a flower pot. "No, silly. After that coffee I feel wide awake!" She stifled a yawn.

Ren thought about the little room in the guest house with its two double beds. He had assumed he would share a bed with Nora. They had shared beds many times since childhood, out of necessity and sometimes preference. But it was different now. Everything was suddenly different. He knew it and she knew it. He felt dizzy, like his entire world had been knocked off its axis, and sent spinning wildly into unknown terrain.

He didn't say anything, he just stood up and took Nora's hand, walking steadily beside her as she skipped and bounced down the street. At first, she was almost her usual bubbly self, exclaiming over every new thing she saw, yanking on his arm to lead him from one attraction to the next. His heart felt like it was being squeezed, like it had been stuffed so full it no longer fit comfortably in his chest. The only thing he felt really sure of any more was that he would spend his whole life following after Nora as she bounced along like this, and he couldn't possibly imagine himself wanting it any other way. _I won't let it end, _echoed in his head. _No, Nora, _he thought to himself. _I won't let it end either. I can promise you that._

But the further they walked, the more subdued Nora became. She stopped bouncing, grew quiet, walked at his side with steps that almost dragged as though weighed down by whatever thoughts were causing her brow to furrow as she stared down at her boots, chewing on her lip. She didn't get like this often. Ren had only seen it a handful of times. It meant she was mulling over something which to her was so important that she was making an immense effort to rein in her usual impulsiveness, to think it through, really consider the options. She would bounce back within a short time, and Ren knew that interrupting would not be helpful. She had been like this briefly while they waited for the airship to Beacon, what felt like a lifetime ago. It had lasted maybe five minutes, but had felt like a disturbingly long time to Ren, as she had thought through the possibilities of being assigned different partners, ending up on separate teams. The assumption when they had applied was that everything would continue as usual, just with classes and training and stuff. It was only when faced directly with the reality that this was _happening _that Nora had started considering the possibilities of what that could really mean_. _She had come around once they boarded the airship, dragging him from window to window, and then all around the campus, bouncing in place during the assembly with Magnhild clutched to her chest, and by the next morning, she was chattering incessantly about strategies for ensuring they ended up together (though not together-together) which involved sloth noises. He thought back on that moment, about the nervous giggle which had followed the words together-together. What an idiot he'd been.

He just had to wait now for Nora to "solve" whatever problem she was working over now, just as her solution to the problem then had been a secret sloth noise signal. He allowed himself a tiny smile; he still didn't think that's what sloths sounded like. He hadn't been worried then. He and Nora had spent a lot of time in the woods, a lot of time hunting and tracking. He knew he would be able to find her first, and she him, especially if they didn't want to be found by anyone else. Was he worried now? Yes, kind of. Worried wasn't really the right word for the kind of anxiety he was feeling now. In his mind he was flying through the air again over the woods behind Beacon, knowing that below there was danger and excitement, that he could handle whatever was waiting for him, and not only that, but he wanted to be right in the thick of it, knowing that his whole life had led to this moment, been preparation specifically for this moment. He just. . .needed a landing strategy.

So they walked together, hand in hand, in a heavy silence for quite some time. Winding through cobbled streets and up and down staircases, no longer really paying attention to where they were going. Some part of Ren knew that this was not the best idea. In a strange city, where they were expecting Cinder and her crew to strike next, without having told the rest of the team where they had gone. But he knew Ruby and Jaune would be busy with Qrow for a while, that they could handle themselves as well as he and Nora could, and anyway, if they got lost or needed to contact the rest of the team, they had scrolls. Finally, their feet led them to the base of the waterfall. Mist sparkled in the air, refracting a million rainbows in the sunshine. It settled on their clothes and crowned their hair. They leaned against the railing, staring into the cascading stream as if it held the answers. Behind them, families and couples strolled leisurely on the sun warmed cobbles, eating ice cream and chatting happily.

Ren glanced at Nora and found her looking back at him, her face calm for once, copper hair starting to curl around her ears in the glittering mist. In her eyes, he saw what he needed to do next. The landing strategy was quite simple, really. He would only need the nerve to actually do it. But he was already falling and there was no going back, even if he had wanted to.

"Nora," he said softly, taking both of her hands in his as he turned towards her. "I am sorry."

Her face fell, just a tiny bit. If he hadn't known her as well as he did, he might not have seen it. He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry that I scared you so badly back there. . .back in Kuroyuri. I'm sorry that I made you look into a future, even for a short time, where I would put vengeance and grief before the one pure and good thing I have ever had. Before the thing I treasure most."

He took a deep breath. Nora was just staring at him, wide eyed, knowing that this was too important to interrupt. "And I'm sorry, that I was so stupid. You've been my best friend, and at times, my only friend, for so long, and I'm sorry I took that for granted and assumed that things would fall into place as they should. Nora, I love you more than any other being on Remnant. I have always known that you and I belong together, but I thought that it would just. . . happen if it was meant to happen."

"I didn't know." Nora's voice was faint, almost a squeak. "I thought it was just me. I thought that if I said anything, tried to change anything, that I would ruin everything." She shook her head and swallowed hard. "I was okay, Ren, just being your best friend, hoping one day you'd come around and see me the way I saw you."

"And I'm sorry," Ren whispered, "that that clarity had to come underneath a ruined house in Kuroyuri, in a moment of terror. I'm sorry that it took staring into the face of my nightmares to realize that I could choose life and happiness and love to drive out the fear and grief, rather than just masking it all." He turned his head up to look into the rainbows arcing over the waterfall. "You know, my father told me once that sometimes the worst thing you can do is nothing at all. And in this case -"

Nora cut him off with a snort, "Well, looks like we both fucked that up!"

"Nora!" He reprimanded. They both smiled at each other for a moment, hands entwined. Ren's throat felt raw, he wasn't used to talking so much. He wasn't sure he could put much more of this feeling into words, but knew he would try if he had to.

"So, what now?" Nora finally asked, a faint tremor in her voice.

Ren knew the answer to that, knew that this time he wouldn't need to speak for Nora to know how he really felt. He released her hands and reached out, winding one arm around her waist to pull her against him, bringing the other up to slide across her cheek and into her hair. Marvelling at the softness of it, even though it was still full of dust from the road and the fight. For a moment, he was frozen in place, looking down into bright blue eyes. One of her hands slid up the back of his neck, the other clinging to the front of his shirt. He could tell she was holding her breath. Around them the world seemed to spin. The waterfall, the shimmering vapor, all of the rainbows, the blue sky and golden sunlight coalescing into one dazzling whirlwind, until Ren and Nora, in the centre of it all, existed only as two hearts pounding out one rhythm. Then he leaned forward and softly covered her lips with his, letting his eyes flutter shut. Her lips were slightly chapped, and he knew his were too but he couldn't bring himself to care. Her heart was beating under his hands, her skin was warm, and he was utterly lost. He was caught in the euphoria of knowing that this was Nora he was kissing, Nora he was holding against his chest like he would never let go, _his Nora._ Thoughts flickered across the surface of his mind. Was it actually possible for this much bliss to be contained within one person? What if he opened his eyes and found that he had just nodded off on the airship and this was all a dream? Had he said enough? Did she _know_?

But then she released her breath in a sigh which gusted across his face, and moved her lips against his and all those thoughts disappeared. Of course she knew, she was telling him she knew in the way she rose up on her tiptoes to press closer to him, in the way she parted her lips to breathe him in. She was telling him she felt the same way with the hand that slipped slowly around his back, and the buckling of her knees as the weight of her body sank against him. He was tempted to let his trembling legs give way and fall with her to the ground, but instead he held her up, pulling away from the kiss to help her steady herself and then immediately leaning back in for another kiss. Vaguely, as if from a great distance he heard someone whistle, heard a voice cheer, but none of it really filtered through his consciousness. Even the swirling of the mist and the rainbows were gone. All that existed in the world was him and Nora, his lips on hers, and the absolute certainty that all he wanted was to just kiss her like this until the end of time. He felt a little crackle of electricity pass over his lips, dance over his skin, raising all the little hairs at their roots, and he shivered in pleasure. Nora broke away from him, and settled her head against his chest, sighing the way she usually did after eating everyone else's pancakes. In the absence of the kiss, some of his doubts resurfaced. Did she really for sure know this time? Just to be very safe he put his face in her hair, inhaling the familiar scent of fruity shampoo and the air just before a lightning strike, and whispered, "I love you, Nora."

He could feel her grinning against his chest. She stood on her toes to kiss his nose and replied. "Boop."

The walk back to the guest house took twice as long. Nora felt like she could run a marathon, like she could leap to the top of the mountain in a single jump. Suddenly everything about Mistral seemed alive with beauty and she wanted to drink it all in, running from one shop window to the next, skipping through parks, tugging Ren along by his hand and smiling from ear to ear, laughing out loud. He followed happily, wearing a contented little smile himself. Mostly she just wanted to stare at him. She wanted to take in the long black hair with that one rose colored lock, and the soft pink eyes (it always had been her favorite color), the muscles of his shoulders, the grace of his movements, and the absolute beauty of the face she knew and loved best in the world, and know that he was hers now. Really and truly hers. More than once, staring at him instead of watching where she was going, she stumbled over something in her path and he'd had to catch her. Each time she would giggle and hang on to him for longer than was really necessary. Then she would notice something else that was pretty or exciting and bound forward, dragging him after her. Whenever she looked back at him he was smiling softly at her, eyes glowing and she didn't want this moment to ever end, didn't want to return to the guest house where Qrow was injured and Ruby and Jaune waited, along with the mission that had brought them here in the first place. She had waited for this for so long and she just wanted to go on pretending that she and Ren were free to run through the city and enjoy each other's company, and the newfound freedom to tell him how much she loved him. Just for a little while. But eventually they were walking up the street to the guest house, back to reality.

From a distance she caught sight of Jaune's profile in the window of their room and stopped in her tracks. Pyrrha had made the same mistake that Nora had. Waiting too long to make her feelings known. Putting what she imagined was the good of her friendship, the good of her team, before her own desires. And Jaune had been oblivious, too busy chasing after Weiss or trying to figure out how to be a team leader to notice what was right in front of him. Until it was too late. Until Pyrrha had already made her decision to accept the Fall Maiden's power, to take on the fight against Cinder and Salem as her own. Destiny had shifted then. Pyrrha's destiny was no longer Jaune, and Team JNPR and the life of a huntress. It was a desperate fight for what was right, and death at the top of the tower. Jaune and Pyrrha hadn't had the chance to wander through Mistral, lost in each other's eyes, savoring the thrill of new love. They hadn't had a chance to kiss each other softly, slowly while the rainbows of a waterfall danced about them. All they'd had was one quick kiss in the ruined streets of Vale, and for Jaune an endless grief, tinged with guilt, which wouldn't let him sleep.

"What about Jaune?" Nora asked softly, looking up at Ren.

"I've been thinking about that too," Ren said gravely. He sat on a bench, pulling one leg up so he and Nora could sit facing each other. "We have all lost a lot, we have all suffered. But for Jaune. . . he can find no comfort in anyone else. He is alone in his grief."

"No," Nora shook her head. "He has us still."

"He does," Ren agreed. "But I imagine that he thinks he'll be the third wheel now."

"I don't want our happiness to make Jaune unhappy," Nora cried. "He needs to know that we are here for him, that he is our team, our family." She smacked her fist into the palm of her hand to emphasize her point.

"Yes," Ren said. "You and I have our whole lives, however long that may be, but our team needs us in this moment. We can't let anything interfere with that commitment now, or it could destroy everything"

"I bet our enemy would love to find a sore spot somewhere in our team, some hurt they could make into a weakness to drive us apart and break us down," Nora mused, sparks dancing in her eyes at the thought. "We can't let them. We need to find a way for our happiness to make us all stronger."

"It can if we include Jaune in it," Ren suggested.

"Ew, Ren!" Nora grimaced.

"Not like that, Nora," Ren groaned, squeezing his eyes shut against images he never wanted to imagine. "Jaune is our leader and our brother. We need to show him that our being 'together-together' doesn't change the way we value him, doesn't change the team."

"Oh, I know! We can make a secret pact!" Nora shouted.

"I don't really want to keep it a secret, Nora," Ren blushed ever so slightly. "I don't think I can now."

"No, you goose. We can make an agreement for how we behave with Jaune and Ruby and on missions and stuff, just between the two of us," she explained.

"Okay, ground rules. I like that," he agreed. "First one, until Jaune is in a much better place, emotionally that is, we'll stay by him all the time. If he goes off on his own, like he did today, and like he does at night sometimes, then we get to be alone. We'll make the most of the time we do get, but we won't sneak away from him or ask him to leave."

"Yes, okay good," Nora agreed, though she had gone slightly pink at the thought of alone time. "And I guess we'd better agree not to start

canoodling in front of him, either. You know, until he's feeling better anyway."

Ren chose not to make a comment on the use of the word canoodling, and nodded, "Definitely important, though I can see where it would be difficult."

His gaze dropped to her lips and she grinned at him, tucking the one pink lock of hair behind his ear. "No kidding," she whispered. And then they were smiling at each other, completely lost in each other's eyes again for a moment.

"No, Ren!" Nora threw her hands up and leaned back. "We have to be serious. This is Jaune we're talking about. Our leader!"

"Right!" Ren straightened up.

The pair remained on the bench for a while longer, deep in discussion. When they were sure they had figured it out, they shook hands on their pact, and walked the rest of the way to the guest house.

On the stairs to their room, Nora paused and turned around. Finding herself on eye level with Ren, thanks to the steps, she gave him a small smile and leaned in for one more kiss. In the semi darkness of the stairwell, Ren reached up to cup her face in his hands and she whispered, "I love you," against his lips. Before he could reply, she turned and continued up the stairs. The moment was over too soon but there were other things they needed to do just then.

Jaune was sitting on the hard wooden floor at the foot of his bed, his sword and shield leaning opposite him, the new gold parts almost glowing in the late afternoon sunlight from the window. Through the wall he could hear the sound of Qrow snoring and the very faint scratching of a pen. He imagined he heard Ruby sniffle a few times, and idly wondered if he should check in on her. He didn't. He knew it would be for himself rather than for her, so he would no longer have to sit alone with his memories. He heard footsteps approaching in the hall and braced himself. He told himself he would be happy for them, that he wouldn't need to leave any room they entered from now on.

He looked up and offered them a faint smile as Ren paused beside the weapons leaning on the wall. He watched Ren pull his father's knife from his boot and place it next to Jaune's shield. He felt like this was Ren's own way of saying, "Your grief is mine also. You aren't alone."

To his surprise, Nora settled on the floor next to him, curling up and leaning her head on his shoulder. Ren sat on the bed behind them, his hand coming to rest on Nora's shoulder. The three sat in silence for a moment, gazing at the weapons against the wall, and Jaune knew that they were remembering too. Remembering a girl who had been full of laughter, kindness and strength, who had changed all of them, brought them together as a team. Remembering a black night long ago in Kuroyuri when their destinies had collided and set them on the path that would bind them to his. Jaune knew then that they were with him, his team til the end.

Late in the night, when Jaune had buckled his sword over his pajamas and crept downstairs to train, Ren rolled over in bed and wrapped his arms around Nora, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck.

"Hey, Ren."

"Mm?"

"Back in Kuroyuri. . ."

He sucked in a deep breath, not keen to have this conversation in the middle of the night.

". . . you actually were looking up my skirt weren't you?"

Ren groaned in exasperation. "Go to sleep, Nora."

"What! I'm just asking!" she protested.

Ren didn't answer, he just kissed her gently on the shoulder, pulled her closer to him and drifted off into a blissful sleep.


End file.
